Some interesting facts about Deer and its habitat

In the teensy hours of a misty morning, forest shudders with the roar of the royal tiger while calm deer's give it a tranquil ambiance. If we walk through any woods for an hour immediately following daylight, you would probably spot deer of one species or another, as deer is an animal that can be found around the world. Some of the commonly found deer varieties are whitetail deer, reindeer, black tail deer, elk, moose, mule deer and caribou.

As deer can adapt well to any habitats, it's a native to most of the continents, except for Australia and Antarctica. Deer mostly eat grass, saplings, bushes and plants, so we can see these animals in areas like open land, woodland, swamps and mountains. Woodlands will give them protection and shelter from predators, while they gaze in open lands. Most of the deer species prefers to live in transitional habitats between farms, forests and suburban areas. Deer are herbivores, so farm lands offer agricultural crops including grains and vegetables, suburban areas provide decorative plants and lush lawns, while forests offer nuts, tender saplings and plants. Among deer community, males are known by the name bucks, stags or harts and females are recognized as hinds, cows or does. Meanwhile, their young ones are called as calf's or fawns.

It's quite interesting to know the effect of each season on deer population. Deer, belonging to the order Artiodactyle, have a tranquil time in the spring season. In this season, they will relax and revamp their bodies from the long and harsh winter. During this period, both the male and female ones improve their social relations and if conditions are favorable, they will extend their home ranges. They shed their thick coats in the spring and the process is called molting. When the spring season comes they will become lazy and their life goes as usual as it was during the spring season. During this period their antlers, which started growing in the spring, become more prominent and will be covered in soft velvet.

Meanwhile, autumn changes the behavior of some deer species, like a whitetail. They will become aggressive and their breeding season occurs in the fall. To attract its mate, the buck will leave his scent on grasses and on trees. As the buck's uses testosterone during this breeding season, its racks fall off in the winter. Deer's try to migrate from their present habitat in the winter season and this is to get rid of cold and snow. They even travel more than 50 miles to find a suitable habitat.

When we go for trekking or jungle drives, one of the most common animals we come across is deer species. A travel through the jungle can show us exciting sights like barking sambar deer, gazing spotted deer, different varieties of butterflies and small mammals. Wild dogs hunting terrified deer through dense tropical forest, leopards chasing its prey, group of elephant drinking water from a stream etc. can also be seen during that tour. It takes at least a full day to go and visit places like this. So it is always advisable to go out of home with proper security for your home.

Though a deer can live up to 20 years, biologists think that lack of nutrition and suddenly changing weather conditions can affect the deer population in a negative way. Deer readily utilizes plants growing in natural or artificially developed forests. So, deer habitat is always a byproduct of forest management or some other land in use. As a responsible citizen, it's our duty to conserve agricultural or wildlife plantings, control forest fires and provide proper food and protection to maintain a healthy deer population.

Annphilip - About Author:
Ann is a freelancer and she writes about jungle life and animals living here. She is interested in going to safaris and trekking to watch animals and enjoy jungle life. During these short tours, she protects her home from burglars and intruders using burglar alarm from providers like ADT Home Security.

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